1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contact time calculation apparatus that calculates the length of time to elapse before an obstacle in an image captured with a camera contacts a body moving relative to itself, an obstacle detection apparatus that detects the obstacle based upon the length of time to elapse before the contact, which has been calculated by the contact time calculation apparatus, a contact time calculation method and an obstacle detection method.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a technology known in the related art through which the length of time to elapse before the obstacle detected based upon an image photographed with an on-vehicle camera comes into contact with the subject vehicle is calculated (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. H11-353565). In the technology in the related art, the contact time is calculated by setting a coordinate system, the origin point of which is a vanishing point on the image and determining the optical flow of a specific characteristic point in the coordinate system having been set.